JINHA

ŞIRNEX –As the Congress of Free Women (KJA) announces that preparations are complete for a series of Cizrerallies celebrating March 8, International Women's Day, women have opened a bazaar to support the reconstruction of Kobanê in the days leading up to the holiday.

In the Cizre region of Şirnex (Turkish name Şırnak) province, KJA member Berjin Demirkaya said a string of rallies in Cizre will attract women from around the province. Festivities begin March 1, with a 10 a.m. march starting at the local Democratic Regions Party (DBP) building, and continue March 8 with a Women's Day rally.

"As women of Cizre, we trace our struggle back to Binevş Agal," said Berjin, calling attention to the martyr known by her code name Bêrivan, who sacrificed herself in a PKK action in the 1990s.

"The women's problem is a world problem, from the Mirabal sisters to today," said KESK union member Mizgin Kanat, referring to the women assassinated for their opposition to the Dominican dictator Rafael Trujillo. She noted that this was a violent year for women and said that if women had gone out in the streets earlier, the tragedies of the Ezidi genocide and selling of women and the rape and murder of Özgecan could have been avoided.

Women of the Cizre Women's Parliament and the Confederation of Public Workers' Unions (KESK) have opened a bazaar on Sanat Street to be open throughout the lead-up to March 8. The women's bazaar is selling regional foods, jewelry and books. Most products are made by communal women's labor.

Rubar Zirig, a union member affiliated with the women's contingent of KESK, said of the bazaar, "Our slogan is that rebuilding Kobanê is as beautiful an activity as resistance in Kobanê."

(at/ma/ns/fk/cm)